


Sharing

by cruisedirector



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Community: contrelamontre, Jealousy, Love Triangles, M/M, POV Alternating, Polyamory, Reunions, Science Boyfriends, Stark Spangled Banner - Freeform, Stony - Freeform, Threesome - M/M/M, Tony Being Tony
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-21
Updated: 2015-04-21
Packaged: 2018-03-25 03:48:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3795571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cruisedirector/pseuds/cruisedirector
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Waiting for Tony to show up, things are bound to get awkward between Steve and Bruce.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [karelian](https://archiveofourown.org/users/karelian/gifts).



> Written for the contrelamontre challenge to write a three-part story starting each section with the last word of the section before. Remixed.

Yes, Tony was stalling deliberately; of that, Steve was certain. Why else would he have suggested having drinks in Steve's half-furnished little apartment instead of in one of his own luxurious buildings? Bruce had arrived suitably late, nearly half an hour after Tony had promised he'd be there, but then twenty more minutes passed, and Steve and Bruce started to run out of safe conversation about the news and sports and how much to believe about those crazy stories about Thor. Maybe Tony could tell them, if he ever showed up.

Steve couldn't decide whether Tony thought it would be easier for himself and Bruce to converse without Tony there or if Tony was just anxious about seeing them both in the same room. They'd both known they were going to see other people after New York, but that didn't mean Steve had to like whoever Tony took up with. At least it was someone Steve already knew and respected, and someone with a secret as big as his own. And at least it wasn't Thor, because what mortal could compete, really?

It was probably just as difficult for Bruce for the opposite reason -- whereas Steve knew what it was like to be as famous as Tony, Bruce was used to living in hiding, and there was no possibility he'd ever be sharing Tony's friends and hanging out with business associates. Plus Steve sometimes got the impression from Natasha and the others that they resented Bruce a little for usurping Steve's place with Tony. It was obvious that Natasha had her own interest in Bruce, and Steve had no trouble seeing why. When he wasn't the Hulk, the man was friendly, easygoing, with a good sense of humor, but his heated dark looks had intimations of Natasha's intensity and Tony's wild side.

"Think the bastard's coming?" Bruce grumbled when Steve handed him another beer.

"Maybe," Steve replied with a shadow of a grin, "he expected us to fight it out, and whoever was still standing would've turned up at his room by now." He liked Bruce's laugh. No matter how much work Steve had done in the gym to take his mind off having an entire life ripped away from him, Bruce could put him through the floor in five seconds if Bruce got angry. It was hard to remember that, though, looking at the scientist. Bruce Banner didn't seem like the type to hit anyone, especially not when he looked so guilty every time he met Steve's eyes.

"It would serve him right if we didn't even miss him." Bruce angled his beer to clink the bottom of the bottle against Steve's. "We should tell each other our worst stories about him."

You're my worst story about him, Steve wanted to say. But he didn't.


	2. Chapter 2

Didn't Tony even have the guts to show up? Despite the surprisingly easy comfort of laughing with Steve, who was after all a fucking war hero, an international celebrity, and one of the best looking men he'd ever seen, Bruce felt disappointment churn in his stomach alongside the beer. Even when Tony wasn't there, he managed to ruin everything. Bruce would have been enjoying Steve's company if it hadn't been for the invisible man looming silently between them. It was impossible not to like Steve, who was one of the few men besides Tony to whom Bruce didn't have to lie about what he was.

They had joked about what might be keeping Tony -- finishing some invention he would arrive and show off to them both, or placating Pepper, or running his mouth too long in an interview with a news reporter or a government official. Maybe Maria Hill had gone to him with some problem for S.H.I.E.L.D. Or maybe Fury had come out of hiding and kidnapped Tony for some secret mission. Steve got a good guffaw out of that last suggestion, and if there was a bit of an edge to the laughter, at least it was common ground.

What an ass Tony was being. "I thought he'd be here by now to see you." Bruce could read frank curiosity in Steve's glance. "He missed you a lot."

"Did he." Steve was smiling but his eyes told a different story. In that maddeningly polite way of his, he said, "He seems to have kept busy anyway."

"Kept busy is right." Bruce half-turned to the window. "We weren't exclusive, you know. He has Pepper, and I'm pretty sure he was with Natasha at least once. It's all just what it is."

"Did you want something else?"

Bruce's head whipped around. "Did you?" Steve's expression was guarded, and Bruce wondered whether he'd said too much -- it was his own secrets he'd been exposing, but he'd been prying too, trying to find out what Steve and Tony had had that he and Tony had not. Tony hadn't ever explained, but the things Tony hadn't said -- and the fact that Tony still hadn't arrived -- told Bruce truths he hadn't wanted to know about Tony's feelings for Steve. 

"I left, didn't I? I had to make a life for myself in this time. We didn't talk about what if. I wasn't ever sure what I'd be coming back to."

"It was still there though -- still is," Bruce guessed. To his own surprise, he grinned at Steve. Tony was just as present for his physical absence as if he were standing there, and that was a waste. "He's an idiot, you know. If I'd had you, I would have waited."

Steve's expression was still nervous, yet speculative. "I guess there's not much point in waiting for him now."


	3. Chapter 3

Now was as good a time as any to make an entrance. Pepper would be laughing at him if she knew how scared he was; she had, for once, admitted that she was jealous, not of any man who'd caught Tony's attention but because he'd managed to snag Captain America's and Dr. Banner's interest at the same time. Though he couldn't live without her professionally and she was the only reason his personal life wasn't a complete disaster, Tony had come to realize that it wouldn't ever be serious with Pepper because she knew better than to let it be. She was a good friend, a creative partner, and one of the smartest people he had ever met in a lifetime of dealing with geniuses, but she wasn't going to let him close enough to break her heart.

Which was probably what he'd done to Steve, and he hated himself for it. Tony had assumed Steve would never let anything get serious with another man, so he'd held back for a long time, until he finally realized they both had it bad and might as well enjoy what time they could together. Then Steve was gone, off to find himself again in the new world, and Bruce was there, a welcome distraction who turned into a good friend, someone who needed a companion he couldn't scare away. With Steve there had been hours of conversation, the old world and the war, whereas with Bruce he could toss ideas into the air and get back concrete plans. They were both fantastic in bed in different ways, holding back the parts of themselves that scared them, and Tony couldn't make himself stop until he'd figured out how to draw them out.

He knew it was selfish, but he wanted them to like each other so there wouldn't have to be half-truths and sneaking and apologies. He wanted to be able to spend time comfortably in the company of both of them. His hand was slippery as he unlocked the door to Steve's place.

There were empty beer bottles on the table but no one sitting at the sofa, which Tony took as a bad sign -- maybe they'd left, maybe they'd gotten fed up and gone out without him. Then he heard Steve say Bruce's name and walked through the living area to the bedroom, wondering what sort of evening out they were planning and whether Steve had the right clothing for the sorts of evenings out Tony had been showing to Bruce.

The Hulk and Captain America were sprawled across the mattress, oblivious to Tony's presence. Bruce's mouth was on Steve's throat and Steve's hands were under Bruce's shirt, moving over his back. They were both barefoot and Bruce was pushing the lower hem of Steve's trousers up with his toes, rubbing Steve's calf.

Tony cleared his throat loudly and the two jerked apart, staring at him. Then they met one another's eyes, got identical crafty grins on their faces, and settled back together. "Take you long enough to get here?" Bruce inquired.

It took all his effort to keep a straight face, but Tony managed it. "That's not a problem, is it? Looks like you started without me."

Steve's hands were relaxed against Bruce's shoulders, while Bruce's arms lay at rest around Steve's neck. When Steve gazed up at Tony with a smile that was forgiving and grateful all at once, it made Tony's breath catch. Bruce's wink was uncomplicated, full of mirth. Lithe, fair strength and darker, muscular intensity...they were so beautiful that Tony had to bite his lip to stop himself from saying so.

Steve spoke instead, eyes crinkling with merriment. "We were just..."

"...getting to know each other?" Tony finished for him. He couldn't decide whether to play at sulking or throw himself down on top of them, but in the end he was unable to keep a grin from pushing across his entire face. "I can see that, yes."


End file.
